Unpaid Balances

Paying Past Due Taxes

The tax collector's office makes every effort to show past due accounts, if any, on your consolidated statement. Any past due taxes must be paid in full before payment on current bills can be accepted. Any payment you remit will be applied to past due taxes and interest charges first.

Past due notices are sent to taxpayers semiannually, usually in March and September, in addition to the semiannual tax billings, which are sent in June and December.

Motor Vehicle Taxes

If motor vehicle taxes remain unpaid, you will be unable to renew ANY vehicle registrations with the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), per Connecticut General Statute 14-33. Past due motor vehicle taxes must be paid in full in order to receive DMV tax clearance. You also must pay an additional fee of $5 per vehicle, per year for a DMV release.

All outstanding vehicle taxes in your name, including taxes not yet delinquent, must be paid in full in order for a release to be issued. If you must pay your past due motor vehicle taxes with a personal check, you will not receive a DMV clearance for 30 days. An ATM is available in the tax collector's office.

Effective November 2015, the Department of Motor Vehicles discontinued use of the paper 'release' or stamp for tax clearance. All motor vehicle tax clearances are now done electronically, overnight.

Please note that payment by "E Check" (ACH payment) , and payments made over the telephone or on line, do not give you immediate clearance for tax purposes, because our office still has to process those payments.

If you pay using an E Check, you must show proof that the payment has cleared your bank.

If you pay over the telephone or on line with a credit, debit or ATM card, you must allow at least two additional business days for our office to process your payment, and to then submit your clearance overnight to the DMV.